If you are new to blogging, you will find that you are writing for nobody for a very long time. This lack of readership leads to many new creators giving up, but if they had only stuck with it, they would be much better off today.
I blame the instant gratification we get daily from the internet and our mobile devices. Want to learn a fact? Look it up online. Want a hit of dopamine to curb your boredom? Scroll through your favorite social media site from your mobile. It's just that easy.
But this leads us to expecting everything to happen fast and without much effort. That is why I began to challenge myself in unique ways. To do things that not many people do because they are hard to achieve from a mental standpoint. One such was relearning how to type by switching to the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard.
Now that I can type at the speed of thought again after having to rewire my brain and retrain all my muscle memory I moved on to a new challenge. This time it is to learn how to speak a second language (not counting all the programming ones I know). The language I chose is known as Esperanto.
These things are weird and quirky but help me stand out but also help me get used the grind of the effort needed to succeed at these challenges. The same goes for starting your first blog or a new blog. You will write many posts that see zero traffic because of your still an unknown blogger.
But don't let that get you down! You can be a successful blogger with the right mindset and strategies. That's why I write these types of posts on Tuesdays' so that everyone struggling can find the motivation they need to keep the effort at a maximum.
5 Ways To Stay Motivated When No One Reads Your Blog
1 :: Focus on Your Niche
If you do not have a niche, or at least have it narrowed down to a few, head over to my post where I show you how to find the best niche for you. We all have different passions, and when we know what the best niche is for us, we can focus on creating the best content we can.
Also, being in the right niche makes it so much easier to write content even when we know that no one is reading. Having a niche works because we love what we blog about and it's entertaining to us, and we can spill our passion into the canvas that is our blog post.
2 :: Plan Ahead
Get a weeks worth of content and a piece of paper, in a notebook, or whatever. When you do not plan out your posts, you are more likely to come up with an excuse to not write at all. Mostly because no one seems to read your work, but this is the issue.
If you do not write when no one is reading, then you have no chance to gain followers who will read your work. It's a cycle that breaks slowly over time as you write more and more. As you increase the number of blog posts that your blog holds the number of potential readers increases.
3 :: Make It A Habit
Making blogging a habit ties in with the above because as you plan out your posts, you will find a time that works best for you to write said posts. As each day passes you build up the mental connection and the habit cycle. Then when you break that habit, you are left with an odd, empty feeling.
Forming a habit is an excellent goal for any new blogger that finds them self-unable to sit down and write out their blog post. Find a way to make it a habit, and as you stick to your schedule, the habit becomes ingrained deeper. Before you know it, you will not be able to skip the blogging session even when your motivation is empty.
4 :: Mix Your Passion (Within Reason)
If you have more than one niche, like me, and you are finding it hard to think up a topic try mixing your niches. It's a great way to cross over your readers from one niche to another while still fitting within your content schedule. Mixing works best on a self-branded blog, but I'm sure you can find a way if you focus on one niche with a topic focused brand.
When mixing your niches, make sure to tie it all together well. The last thing you want is to have two separate blog posts in one. That makes your work feel choppy and unprofessional which will, in turn, keep you from gaining new readers.
5 :: Don't Look At The Statistics
If you blog on the Steem blockchain, stay off the trending pages. The trending section will only discourage you when you see a half effort past earning a ton more author rewards, comments, views, and upvotes than you. This is especially true if you spend a lot of time writing out your post, editing, having someone proofread, and formatting your images and text to look impressive.
Don't even get me started on the memes' posted here. So much of that content is unoriginal, and they earn way more than I ever have. See, even I get salty, but there is nothing we can do about the low-quality content earning a ton of rewards. It's all perceived value, and it is best to earn your following over the long haul than have one meme go viral for a day.
Por la Esperantistoj
5 Vojoj Resti Motivigitaj Kiam Neniu Unu Legas Vian Blogon
1 :: Fokusu sur via niĉo
2 :: Planu Antaŭe
3 :: Faru Ĝin Habitu
4 :: Miksi Vian Pasion (Ene De Kialo)
5 :: Ne Rigardu La Statistiko
Vivu Esperanton!
Thanks For Reading!
If you have any topics that you would like me to cover pleas feel free to comment them below and I'll add them all to my list!
All images came from royalty and attribution free sources unless specified.
Join us over at the Creators' Guild Discord group! We are here to encourage, support and increase the creation of quality content.
Like what you see?!
You can vote me as witness!
If you have any questions about the future of Steem
or my witness please feel free to message jrswab#3134 on Discord.
Click here to vote with SteemConnect!
Or you can do the following via Steemit:
Go to https://steemit.com/~witnesses
Scroll down to the bottom.
Type "jrswab" into the box.
Click "Vote" once.
Refresh.
Looking to support my content creation efforts outside of the Steem Blockchain?
Check out jrswab.com/support
This is a good post and relevant to a good number of us 'lower down the pecking order' Steemians. I have resteemed so others can read.
Dankon!
Very true! If you pick a good niche that is your passion the blog will be worth it despite the lack of readers. For me I view it all as a recording of my life. If people like it awesome! If people don’t see it at least I had fun and provided a bit to the written history for later generations in the world.
Very good post. I am in a kind of upvote break due to low voting power. But I will recommend it in one of my next posts.
Dankon!
Some good tips there. It always gets a bit slow on here when the price of steem drops.
Good post. Personally, I find that I can't stick to a set schedule. Sometimes I can't think of anything to write about - other times, when inspiration hits, I can write a 1,000 word post in 30 mins or less.
Your best point IMO is #5. Just keep pushing forward and don't look at the numbers. If you keep it up, eventually things will happen, but you have to enjoy the journey.
Cheers. Im thankful I stumbled across the end of your show on PAL chat. Looking forward to learnin more.
.
I'm building up my own flow. My slowtime is due to pressing life stuff. Trying to keep it simple going forward. The goal is post more screenplay formated stories, more improv info, fun photos, and FinTech news. Just trying to map out a plan and flow. Trying to keep it simple cause I sometimes go overboard in editing.
Will be looking forward to learning & hope to catch your future shows and posts.
Thanks for the witness vote and all the support you have shown already! Happy to have met you and am looking forward to growing together!
Very well stated! Another tidbit that helped me personally was thinking of my blog as a thought keeper, a diary if you will.
I think that approaching a blog with this mindset sets realistic expectations, reduces pressure and disappointment, and allows for satisfaction when others begin to engage and also follow along. Organic and genuine growth is the only growth worth pursuing here on Steemit.
Love it! I actually am thinking about starting a blog about learning Esperanto as a way to ingrain it deeper into may mind and possibly help others. Being that it is a tiny niche, I am not expecting much my engagement, but we never know!
Definitely feeling a bit low energy in terms of writing blog posts. I've managed to refine my "niche", and also tweak things so that I keep up a bit of momentum / presence / photography practice by doing a few Steepshot parts throughout the week, with a typically longer entry on the weekends.
Give listed a lot of good ideas. I'm going to try planning things out ahead of time and maybe drafting up some entries a little bit throughout the weekdays to improve my posts rather than just rushing them out in the moment.
It's good to hear that you are trying to improve. Keep up the hard work and please feel free to message me on Discord if you want some specialized coaching.
you are absolutely right about trending section , it will surely drain our creative energy.ignoring the fact that our trending page is absolutely abysmal lately :-)
Great blog personally I have no problem with finding a subject to write about but I do find it kind of pity the blogs seem to be lost after 1 week time. Did not know people still learn/speak Esperanto
Yup, 1.2 million people signed up for it on Duolingo alone since they added Esperanto.
Great. I would like to learn it as well
Oh wow.
This was very informative and encouraging at the same time.
Personally I have always loved to write, I'm not mucb of a talker so I find that I express myself best in written form. I guess we all have different struggles.
Loving your content so far.
Xx
Thank you for the kind words!
Really great content and pointers here. Totally agree that we are in an age of instant gratification too. I'll check out your other posts!
Dankon!
Your posts always motivate me and push me to do something here. Kudos to you.
Dankon :)
thanks your motivation is very helpful for us. hope you succeed in the next day
Thanks! Yes, does feel like writing with no audience. Then, wonder about putting it here on steemit when I might be able to share elsewhere with more readers. Can you fill me in on where we can post w/o being tagged by cheetah? Can I submit here and other places or is that frowned upon?
Post it here first and then post it on another site you own after a week and link back to Steemit so you can grow more here over time as will as introduce people to the platform.
Okay. Great to know! Thanks for your response.
thats the first time I saw Esperanto on Steemit.. incredible...
Thank you for your motivating words.. If I wouldn't spend so much hours each day on this platform I would have created my own blog since am month 😂 steem on !
Haha happy to be your first steem based Esperanto experience :D
hehe.. I think my first real Esperanto experience ever 🤔
:o and I'm just learning! Do you know Epseranto?
I just heard about in school maybe 100 years ago and was very interested about it. But that lasted maybe a few days and I never heard about it again..
This post has been resteemed from MSP3K courtesy of @jrswab from the Minnow Support Project ( @minnowsupport ).
Bots Information:
Join the P.A.L. Discord | Check out MSPSteem | Listen to MSP-Waves
Thank you! your post is very motivating.
Exactly do stick to those things and stay occupied with what you do
its easy to say or write anything in higt level
Wow. This ia really amazing! Thank you for sharing it. Newbies can definetly get a big thing on this post.
Thanks for the helpful commentary. The memes thing is interesting, though sort of expected. My question is: Are there any original memes that are paying well?
I have no idea but I may start posting memes just to stay relevant lol.
Haha! I think I'd be fine doing them if they weren't derivative garbage and I enjoy making them. That won't be as easy, but it's better than selling out.